(22.1)
"Fancy meeting you here."
Mewtwo looked up from his drink of vanilla, cream, vodka and strawberry to see Sabrina slide into the seat beside his.
She ordered a cherry wine and gave his drink an amused glance.
"Still drinking that swill I see."
"I could say the same for you," Mewtwo said, moving his drink out of her reach so that she wouldn't be able to dump hers into it. "What brings you here?"
"Felt cooped up at the gym, so I decided to get out and clear my head," Sabrina said.
"Dressed like that, I'd imagine you're looking for something completely different," Mewtwo said dryly, taking in the form-fitting bare-shouldered lace-trimmed violet cocktail dress she was wearing.
"Judging from your lack of clothes, I'd say the same about you," Sabrina said, matching his tone.
"Au contraire, ma chère, I am merely expressing myself."
Sabrina chuckled and sipped her drink. "It's nice having you around," she said warmly. "Feels good to have a like-minded individual around I can debate with."
"Feels less like a debate and more like a lecture," Mewtwo muttered into his drink.
Sabrina's lips twitched slightly and she scowled playfully at him.
"That aside, how have you been?" she asked. "You basically drop off the face of the planet for a decade and now you're looking after an eevee who can one-shot experienced gym pokémon like it's nothing. What's changed?"
Mewtwo hesitated, hands tightening around his drink before he sighed. "She just reminded me of an old friend," he said.
"From that tone, I'd say that old friend was a bit more than that," Sabrina said.
Mewtwo watched the bubbles in his drink, idly manipulating them with his telekinesis.
"True," he said after a few moments. "Weird thing is...sometimes she feels very familiar to me, yet other times she's a complete stranger."
Sabrina blinked slowly before she set her drink down. "Have you gone through her mind?"
"Skimmed, yes. In-depth...no."
Sabrina leaned back, arms crossed. "Then I suggest you do that sometime soon. If you want to know more about her...well, the best way to do that is talk."
"I know how socializing works, thank you," Mewtwo said with a roll of his eyes.
"I mean talk about the parts of her that don't feel like...her. Kinda like how I've got memories of several Sabrina and Natsume rattling around in my head. I know which ones are my own and which were gifted to me after that event a decade ago."
Mewtwo finished his drink and paid for it before standing up. "I will do that. Thank you."
"Don't be a stranger," Sabrina said with a wave of her hand. "I miss our nights together."
"Those weren't our nights," Mewtwo said, "But...maybe someday we could...revisit them."
Sabrina's eyes met his own and Mewtwo reached out to gently cup her cheek, stroking her face softly.
"I look forward to it."
(22.2)
Mewtwo stared at Giovanni as if he had grown a second head.
"Oh, don't look so shocked. I merely want a battle with your friend," the leader said.
"And why would she accept?" Mewtwo asked, crossing his arms, fur rippling angrily.
"I think that answer lies with her, no?" Giovanni asked, eyes moving from the clone to the eevee by Mewtwo's side. "Well?"
Sasha hesitated, red eyes flicking back and forth between Mewtwo and the Rocket Leader.
"I don't see why I couldn't battle," Sasha said slowly. Mewtwo gritted his teeth and then relaxed, shoulders slumping as his uncrossed his arms.
"Very well. Are we to battle here then?"
Giovanni gazed around the flat land thoughtfully. "I don't see why not. I merely want to test something. And before you say anything, I chose you as my test subjects because you...interest me."
Sasha headbutted Mewtwo's leg and the clone glanced down at her before he nodded. "Very well. Any particular rules?"
"One vs one," Giovanni said, pulling a poke ball out of his trench coat pocket. "This shouldn't take long."
He threw it into the air. "Rhydon, let's go."
The Rhydon appeared in a flash of light and landed heavily, causing the ground to quake. It let out a roar and spun its drill with a high whir.
"You may attack at your leisure," Giovanni said, removing his gloves.
Sasha hesitated before firing off a Swift at the dual-typed pokemon, who didn't even twitch as they bounced harmlessly off its thick hide.
Rhydon then stomped on the ground, sending a wave of rocks at the eevee, who leaped over them, kicking off them to gain height. Once she reached the apex of her leap, she fired off an ice beam.
Giovanni's eyes gleamed.
"Dodge," he ordered.
The Rhydon blurred from sight, causing Mewtwo and Sasha's eyes to go wide in surprise.
It reappeared above Sasha and slammed her into the ground with a Hammer Arm.
When the dust cleared, there was no sign of the eevee, aside from a pile of dirt and a hole in the ground.
"Dig's not going to save you," Giovanni said, rubbing his wrist. "Earthquake, then Horn Drill."
The ground warped under the powerful Earthquake and a white shape shot out of it. Rhydon's horn spun up and it lunged forward.
Sasha twisted in midair to avoid the deadly horn before cracking the Drill Pokemon across the face with an Iron Tail.
Giovanni nodded as his pokemon hit the ground. "Let's call it there, then. You're fast on your paws. Dainty though, which may trouble you down the line. But your species is all about adaptation, so I suspect that won't be much of an issue."
Sasha frowned. "But that was hardly a battle!"
Giovanni shrugged. "Had it kept going, you'd have transformed and gotten faster, which would've put me at a disadvantage."
"Bull," Mewtwo said, picking Sasha up and gently touched her bruises. "Your Rhydon is no slouch in the speed department and even with her transformation, she'd still have been weaker offensively and defensively. And you didn't play your own trump card."
"Oh? You noticed?" Giovanni said, shaking his sleeve back to reveal a watch. Laid onto its face was a Key Stone.
"Mega Evolution?" Sasha said in disbelief. "Rhydon can Mega Evolve?"
"Normally a Rhydon evolves into a Rhyperior when holding a Protector, but that's permanent," Mewtwo said, glancing at the Rhydon, spotting the telltale glint of a Mega Stone under its chest armor. "By utilizing Mega Evolution, it can achieve the form temporarily for battles. Similar things are possible for Electabuzz, Dusclops and Magmar."
"You've done your research," Giovanni said approvingly. "I'd expect nothing less from the property of Team Rocket. Well, ex-property, as you keep reminding me."
Sasha heard Mewtwo growl low in his chest and she gave him a comforting nuzzle. He looked down at her and their eyes met for a moment before the replica relaxed.
Turning, Giovanni put his gloves back on, pulled his coat collar up and walked away.
(22.3)
Mewtwo and Sasha stared at the wall of rocks in front of them.
"Well, that's inconvenient," Sasha said.
Mewtwo shook his head. "Not entirely. I could easily shift this with my power and make everyone's day easier."
Sasha glanced at him, ears twitching. "You said could."
Mewtwo waved a hand at the nearby stream, pulling a startled Magikarp out of the flowing water.
"Why waste my own power when I can utilize others'?"
Sasha blinked slowly. "Magikarp can't learn Rock Smash," she said slowly.
Mewtwo snorted. "Allow me to prove you wrong."
Wielding the fish like a flail, Mewtwo set to work smashing the rocks into a fine powder, using the fish to sweep the path clear.
The weirdest part was that the Magikarp seemed to be enjoying the entire experience.
Mewtwo tossed the woozy fish back into the stream once he had finished and smirked at the eevee.
"You were saying?"
Sasha shook her head. "Not even gonna bother."
(22.4)
"Sasha, I'd like your opinion on something," Mewtwo said, poking his head out of his bedroom/office.
From her position on the couch, Sasha lifted her head and stared over the arm of the furniture at him before she got to her paws, stretched, and joined him.
"What is it?" she asked, eyes roaming over the bookshelves and cluttered confines of the replica's room.
"Do you know what the term "Mary Sue" is?"
"From your tone, it's not something pleasant," Sasha said. "No, I have not heard the term used. Why?"
Mewtwo waved a hand at his computer. "Some of my editors have warned me that one of my characters fits the bill."
"What do you think?" Sasha asked, jumping into Mewtwo's lap so she could read the screen.
"I know I use some of the clichés surrounding such characters, but that's sometimes unavoidable. What matters is the execution," Mewtwo said, brushing his hands through her fur.
"Do you think you've executed it well?" Sasha said, skimming the chapter.
"I am quite biased towards my own work," Mewtwo said dryly. "Therefore, what I think is irrelevant."
"You're just writing for fun anyway," Sasha pointed out. "So you're not...hm...completely bound by the rules of writing. From what I see here, your character tends to get trounced quite easily early on and it's not until they meet someone who can help them train that they improve. From there, it's a natural advancement of power."
Sasha flicked her ears as Mewtwo played with them before she continued.
"Although you could stand to increase the power of their opponents. I almost feel sorry for how poorly they're portrayed."
"Thank you for your input. I will strive to do better in the future."
(22.5)
Guzma leaned on the rickety railing on one of the dilapidated mansion's many second-story balconies and stared up at the sky.
On his head, a Wimpod snoozed.
"Boss?"
Guzma's eye twitched and he let out a deep sigh before turning to see Plumeria leaning against the door frame.
"We've got guests. And Li'l G is back looking for his dog."
Guzma grunted and stretched, cracking his back loudly as he entered the mansion and made his way downstairs.
His eyes landed on the child clad in black and red and he felt a surge of pride that he had helped raise such a strong trainer. Squashing the thought before it took hold, the leader of Team Skull gazed at the other two beside the boy.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?" he said, getting their attention. "Bad enough that kid has a dog. Now he's bringing cats and rats into my home?"
He squinted at the eevee. "The heck is wrong with you? Your color is all off. You some kind of mutant Vulpix or something?"
"I'm just looking for Null," Gladion said.
"You just missed him. Some Aether goons came by and scooped him up. Didn't tell me why," Guzma said.
Gladion swore and spun on his heel.
"Boy," Guzma said sharply, bringing Gladion to a stumbling halt. "Don't do anything stupid, ya hear?"
Gladion nodded curtly before dashing outside, followed a moment later by the other two.
"Wonder where he picked those two up," Guzma said, crossing his arms. "Hopefully Lusamine goes easy on them."
Shaking his head, he disappeared into the mansion's depths.